A generic vibration tamper includes a superstructure comprising a driving engine mounted on a machine frame and further comprising a guide bar, and further includes a substructure comprising a compactor base driven by the driving engine and comprising a compactor plate and a drive line, by means of which a drive connection between the driving engine and the compactor base is established such that the compactor base is capable of moving relatively to the superstructure along a compactor axis while executing at least one compacting amplitude. A generic vibration tamper is, for example, disclosed in DE 201 05 768 U1 owned by the Applicant, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In the case of this vibration tamper, the power output of the driving engine communicates via a connecting rod with the compactor base and converts the rotational motion of the output shaft of the driving engine to linear motion, that is to say, to compacting motion of the compactor base. Vibration tampers are usually classified as so-called manually guided “walk behind” machines. For this purpose, the vibration tamper comprises, as part of the superstructure, a guide bar mounted on the superstructure via usually resilient damping elements on the machine frame. The machine frame is substantially a single-piece or multi-piece supporting structure, particularly, for the driving engine and/or the guide bar on the superstructure. The measures used for establishing such vibration attenuation are known per se. For example, suitable rubber mountings or similar vibration damping devices can be used for this purpose. The main property of the damping elements used is that vibration incited therein by the machine frame are either completely eliminated in the damping element or are damped and then transferred to the other side with an attenuated intensity. In operation, an operator can manually guide the vibration tamper over the surface to be compacted, by means of the guide bar on the superstructure. Generic vibration tampers are also disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2009 017 209 B4, DE 10 2010 046 820 A1 and DE 10 2010 047 943 A1 owned by the Applicant. These specifications are likewise incorporated herein by reference with regard to their construction and the manner of operation of generic vibration tampers.
The majority of driving engines used for generic vibration tampers are internal combustion engines that provide the necessary mechanical energy for operation of the vibration tampers for ground compaction by burning gasoline or diesel fuel. The numerous machines usually present on a building site together lead to considerable exhaust pollution for the persons active on the building site. Problems are posed, in particular, by the regularly occurring high carbon monoxide concentrations and possibly by soot contamination. This set of problems is particularly conspicuous when a vibration tamper is used in situations in which only a restricted working space is available, only small areas require compacting, and/or selective compacting measures are desired, as, for example, in trench and canal engineering. Alternatively, DE 10 2011 105 899.4 owned by the Applicant also discloses a vibration tamper operated on electrical energy. Especially the accumulators necessary, therefore, are, however, still relatively expensive, and the operating periods thus attainable are comparatively short. Another basic objective to be regarded when developing vibration tampers consists in that safe and reliable operation should be made possible in spite of the high vibratory stress naturally occurring under working conditions.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a vibration tamper that makes it possible to achieve comparatively low-emission working conditions and is at the same time inexpensive to produce and is also capable of achieving comparatively long operating periods.